Emelya has spent his whole life being lazy, while his brothers and their wives work hard to feed and clothe him. In fact, Emelya has been lazy so long, that he doesn't know how to stop being lazy. But then, one day, Emelya catches a giant fish – a pike, no less. At first Emelya wants to simply take the pike home for his sister-in-laws, but then the Pike speaks to him in a human voice. It begs Emelya to let it go, promising in return that whatever Emelya wishes for will be granted, as long as Emelya says certain words. Delighted, Emelya orders his pails of water to walk home – without spilling a drop.

Emelya walked comfortably behind his pails of water. He was enjoying the walk – the brisk winter air and the lovely landscape around him. It took him some time to notice that the pails seemed determined to follow the road, and that the road led directly through the village.

How would he explain his walking pails to the villagers? In alarm he rushed forward, and running along beside the pails asked them very politely to please avoid the village on their way home. But the pails, it seemed, could not understand Emelya, and they went on walking, never pausing.

Such was the pace they were moving at, that Emelya had no time to try anything else – they were already at the village. On went the pails, along the village street, and behind them came Emelya, trying to look as small and inconspicuous as possible.

First one villager, than another villager noticed what was happening. They stood around marvelling, not quite able to believe their eyes. "Emelya is a miracle worker," said one, and for the first time the villagers looked at Emelya with respect in their eyes. Emelya quite liked this, and he began to walk with more pride, even smiling at the amazed crowd.

When he got back, no one was home. Unheeding, the pails marched straight into Emelya's hut and jumped up on the bench, and Emelya climbed up on the stove ledge again. A long time passed and then a little time, and his sisters-in-law said to Emelya: "Why are you lying there Emelya? Go chop us some wood!"

Now, Emelya had had a tiring morning. He found that now, after all the excitement was over, all he wanted to do was sleep on the warm stove. "No, I don't want to go," Emelya said. However, his sister-in-law was determined to make him do something, and said by the way of a bribe: "If you don't do what we say, your brothers will bring you no presents from the market."

Emelya was still very reluctant to leave the comfort of the stove ledge. It was far too cold. Just as he was preparing to say "no" again, he remembered the pike's promise. "By the will of the pike, do as I like! Go chop some wood, axe, and you, wood, come inside the house and jump into the stove. Do it quietly, so that my sister-in-law does not see you."

This time Emelya was not surprised to see the axe come to life. It leapt up from under the bench, and practically flew out into the yard. There it began to chop wood energetically. All the pieces of freshly chopped wood filed into the hut in a neat line, all by themselves. Several jumped straight into the flames, and a few others settled into a neat pile by the side. As you can imagine, Emelya was now very happy that he had spared the pike's life.

Days passed and then his sister-in-law had yet another task for Emelya. The wood in their yard was over, and a fresh log had to be brought from the forest. Emelya would have to take the sled and the horse and ride for an hour to reach the forest. But by the time, Emelya had other ideas and he was a little less lazy then he used to be.

He climbed onto the sledge (which was cold) and ordered the gates of the shed to open. "By the will of the pike, do as I like! Off you go to the forest, Sledge!" he cried. And, lo and behold! The horseless sledge whizzed through the gate so quickly that one could scarcely have caught up with it even on horseback.

Emelya was enjoying himself thoroughly – speeding along down the winding country lane – that he forgot that once more he would have to go through the village. "Slow down!" he cried, but the sledge could not hear him, and sped on towards the village main street.

By the time the sledge reached the village, it was going very fast indeed, and there were many people in the way. It knocked them all down, some of them very young children, and women. "Hold him! Catch him!" yelled the villagers who spotted Emelya but they were too slow and before long Emelya was out of the village and under the boughs of the great forest. As he watched the axe chop down a tree, Emelya realised that he felt a little sick. The villagers – who must be very angry indeed now – would be waiting for him on his way back.

To be continued ...